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Sex, Jews, and South Park

An educational retreat may raise more questions than it answers

by
Hadara Graubart
April 16, 2010

We may have heard that it’s a “double mitzvah” to have sex on the Sabbath, or that Orthodox couples refrain from the deed while the woman is menstruating, but otherwise it’s doubtful that Jewish learning and sex ed have had much of a connection for most of us. A retreat this weekend—in Texas, of all places—aims to change that, at least for one lucky group of teens. Run by the organization There’s Only 1U (still trying to figure out the Jewish reference in that name—a play on the first commandment, perhaps?), the retreat promises to teach the basics and explain “why all of this is Jewish.” Based on our experience at Jewish camp, we guess that the overnight, co-ed retreat will certainly be an educational experience, but perhaps not in the way it was intended.

Although the program “focuses on five Jewish values: truth (emet), not embarrassing (lo levayesh), courage of the heart (ometz lev), taking care of your body (shmirat haguf), and honoring one another (ohev zeh et zeh),” it uses an unconventional method to introduce the topic: clips from the “Sex Ed episode of South Park.” Well, we suppose if the kids’ parents are as clueless as Stan’s, they could certainly use some help. On the other hand, they might also get some decidedly unkosher ideas.

Hadara Graubart was formerly a writer and editor for Tablet Magazine.